Meministi?
by The Puppy Schwag
Summary: Memory's a fickle thing. You can make them in moments. The same thing can be said about losing them.


Ayo, this is something completely new and fresh. It's another MH fanfiction! (cue confetti)

Right, so...

MH and all other MH monsters/weapons/armor/etc is property of CAPCOM

Coroka, Linea, James, Viviao Village, and Cascade belong to me. ^_^

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><p>Y'know how they say... oh, what was it? Ah, right. How they say that once you have it all, you can lose it in a heartbeat? It usually applied to those men that get to the top with... illegal dealings and such. I always thought that, if I didn't get my hands dirty in that way, I'd never lose everything I ever loved... I could go on for hours, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning...<p>

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><p>It was only a simple day in Viviao village, nice and sunny... and hot. Then again, it was located in a desert, and deserts, of course, are <em>hot<em>. It doesn't bother us locals, though. We've lived here for so damn long, our skin naturally cools itself.

Well, it really doesn't, but that's what we tell visitors. They believe it, too. Ha ha...

At any rate, that's where I call home. My name's a real ass to pronounce, but the others stick to calling me Coroka. I was the... _entertainer _in the village. Making people laugh, y'know? I liked seeing smiles on people's faces as I balanced on one hand while juggling knives with the other and balancing some other person on my feet. Yeah... the whole village loved me, right down to my jokes and facial expressions. I can be a very animated person sometimes. That helps my image with the kids, too. It also helped that I wasn't past twenty years old. An entertainer at sixteen years of age is pretty popular, as I quickly learned. Ha ha... especially with some women. Maybe it was my youth, but they usually don't take their eyes off of me. I'm sure they'd love me to death, but I have my heart set on someone else...

"Um... Coroka?" I jumped when the voice called out my name, shocked out of my little space trip. I knew exactly who that voice belonged to; probably the most beautiful girl in Viviao that I've ever seen smile at my performances. I didn't even have to turn around to describe her. Very petite, about 5'6" tall. Beautiful, succulent tan skin that glistened golden in the sunlight. Luscious auburn hair that flowed in waves down her back, ending near the small. Her body was one that would make even goddesses envious; delicate curves that would make on want to hold on and never, EVER let go. Beautiful full lips that looked even better curved into a smile... and her eyes. They're the kind that you would instantly lose yourself in. That shade of blue... it reminded me of my mother's eyes before she... left to visit family. Even when I wasn't looking at her, I still lost myself in the thought of them.

Her name Linea. I've fallen head-over-heels-and-over-again in love with her, to be perfectly honest. What made it 'and-over-again' was the fact that she was so _shy_. She never really approached me much, to be honest, so my heart was going into overdrive as I waited patiently for her to speak again.

"Um... Are y-you... listening?" I sighed and face palmed. _God, I'm fucking up already... _From where I sat over Viviao, I turned to look at her, my eyes immediately making contact with hers. She blushed slightly and broke contact after a few seconds. I found myself kinda disappointed, but glad to be able to look at her blush. Well, I mean... She was just so _cute! _"Y-your father asked me to find you..." When I hear that, I couldn't suppress a sigh of absolute disappointment. So she wasn't here of her own accord... That just sucked. I nodded and got to my feet, starting to walk past her down to the trail I used to get up here.

"W-w-wait!" I heard her call out behind me, making me freeze in my tracks. I didn't turn around, though. I've watched too many movies that had scene like this, and turning around would seem too cliché.

Hey, I like being original.

"Um... I... for a while..." She stuttered, trying to find words I knew would only lead into three words. Three words, eight letters. _All you have to do is say it... _I silently pleaded. _Just say it, and you'll have me..._"I, uh... I've been... for some time..." Without even looking, I knew she had her eyes shut tight.

"I LOVE YOU!" At that moment, I swear I could've died right then and there. Granted, I knew it was coming, but that didn't take away from the feeling. Hell, that added to it. The most beautiful girl in Viviao was in love with me this whole time! That thought would make anyone just feel so effin' happy! I just wanted to turn right around and glomp her... and I did. I felt stupid, but I did. She gasped in shock, which was understandable. I mean, how many people expect to get a glomp after confessing love? Not her, that's for sure. Either way, her shock subsided, only to be replaced by what I suspect was joy as she wrapped her arms around me. I just wanted time to stop, right there. I just wanted to enjoy this moment, enjoy every second.

However, luck had a bad sense of humor.

Screams rang out and completely ruined the moment we were sharing. Without thinking, we both rushed to Viviao, hoping the best.

Expecting the worst. Waddya know, it was the worst.

Immediately when we entered, the gate collapsed, which would make it hard as hell to leave. In the center, some blue giant... winged... lion... thing was wreaking havoc on whatever it could reach. Linea gripped my arm tightly in fear as my mind raced faster than I could keep up. I looked at her, wanting to comfort her... and this came out.

"Listen, Linea. We have to evacuate. I need your help to round the others up and get them out, okay?" She nodded without argument, letting go of me to go find other villagers. I, on the other hand, gripped one of my knives tightly.

Remember when I said I could juggle knives? I'm a professional at throwing them as well. So my plan was to distract the thing for as long as possible while the others ran like hell.

Yeah. That was it. No thinking it through, just doing it. Yeah... I'm stupid.

Only when I actually got to throwing the knives at it did I realize that.

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><p><em>The small man before her was actually trying to fight with little sharp things. Amusing. He was tall, though. Very strong, she could tell. She only noticed the sharps when they bounced off of her hide. <em>

_Pitiful. _

_She turned, taking a swipe at the man... only to hit air?_

_Disappointed. But not done. This little big man interested her. She wanted him. His blood on her talons. His delicious tendons and flesh in her stomach. He was HER prey. Then she felt a sharp penetrate her hide, too close to her heart. She roared at the man, who was frantically searching his belt for more sharps. She let out a chuckle as she realized, along with him, that he had ran out._

_Amusing. He was as good as dead... but she didn't like prey that didn't put a fight. She searched a house she had completely wrecked earlier, finding a long blade she liked. She gripped it with her teeth, sliding it to the man. He stared at it in confusion, then at her. The message took a few to get through, then he picked it up, weighing it in his hand. After a moment's hesitation, he sliced clean through her hide without warning._

_Pain... pain... pain... pain..._

_Before she knew it, she had him pinned down under one taloned foot. She felt him struggle and laughed, a low rumble that shook the ground. She prepared a talon to strike him down... but couldn't. No..._

_He was too young. He had much more to experience... not enough power for her to be satisfied with this kill. Power... she drew her talon closer to his body until it touched his skin. With that, she gently carved a symbol in his flesh, resembling the head of the leviathan she remembered meeting once. It had electricity flowing through it, plainly visible when she saw it. When she finished, she placed her other foot on it, preparing something she knew would hurt..._

_Him._

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><p>All I knew at that point was pain. Pure... unedited... unbridled... <em>pain. <em>Whatever this thing was doing, it was torturing me. Pain coursed through my very veins, each beat of my heart just making it worse.

As soon as it started, it ended. I let out one final scream of agony... then all I knew was the void.

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><p>We had just finished loading those villagers onto the airships for evacuation to Loc Lac when a horrible, horrible scream filled my ears. I knew it was human, but it was just so... painful to hear. I mean, it sounded like a pole was getting shoved into some bodily cavity that shouldn't have something shoved up it.<p>

Charming imagery, right? Well, that's me. I'm a huntress with attitude.

Sue me.

Either way, the scream didn't say he was dead for sure. That, and some really cute girl was tugging on my arm.

"That was Coroka! He's still in there!" I nodded quickly, knowing what she was getting at. I turned to run into the village, but another hunter quickly grabbed my arm to stop me.

"No, Cascade! He's dead for sure! Don't risk yourself!" I was flattered that he cared, but I don't take his word often.

"I don't believe that, James! Let me GO!" I wrenched my arm out of his grip and ran into the village, just as the Lunastra ignited the powder it had spread moments earlier. Explosions blossomed like fiery roses all around me, miraculously missing me by inches. Debris pelted my Desert Barioth armor, but thankfully, it held fast as I reached the center of the village. The Lunastra flew off, apparently done with its little rampage, leaving only a man... no, a teenager. He was only a teenager, just like me. He was just lying there, breathing very slowly, revealing some form of symbol that... looked like a Lagiacrus? Oookay, that's not weird at all...

Then again, I've seen weirder.

My Guild-Com beeped to life on my belt, making me habitually hit the 'receive' button.

_Cascade, we had to dust off! The Lunastra's tried to wreck our airships. No casualties, thank God, but we can't turn around now! I swear, even if it's on my own, I'll come back for you!_

Yeah... James was mad in love with me, I could tell. I would gladly return the feeling if he wasn't such a womanizer, though.

His types just make me sick.

_Focus, Cas! Is he dead? _I turned my attention to the guy on the ground. I felt for a pulse, sighing when I found it was nice and steady, and he was breathing. Good signs. I checked the little engraving he had, seeing that it was shallow and had very little chance of getting infected. Since I was done with looking over his 'injury', if you could call it that, I looked him over.

Oh, wow, he was well built. I mean, his abs felt like rocks, just... smoother. Yeah, I felt it. Call me a perv if you want. His skin was an amazing tan, that kinda looked golden in the sunlight like this. His face was... perfect. He came from stock, that was for sure. Carefully, I lifted up his eyelids, gasping at his eye color; they were violet. Looking at them, I couldn't help but wonder what they looked like when he wasn't out cold.

Ha ha... Out cold in the middle of a hot desert. Irony, anyone?

I knew he'd live... but not when it was cold, at night. By the way things were looking, we'd have to find someplace warm, or at least sheltered. I knew that everything in this village was sent to hell, so I had to use what I had in my pack.

Within five minutes, I had a Guild-worthy tent up right there in the city, complete with a Guild-style large-as-hell glorified sleeping bag. Seriously, it can fit about four people.

Thankfully, there were only two at the moment. I picked the guy up, carrying him into the tent and laying him down in the 'bed' if you can call it that. I looked his body over one more time, taking in every detail. Well, every upper detail. Thankfully, for his sake, he was wearing pants. Just no shirt.

Who knew?

When my stomach grumbled, I busied myself with getting a few steaks going on a spit. I stared into the fire as it crackled, memories of doing this with my big sister surfacing freely. They were the only ones I had of her, really. Pretty sad huh?

I heard that guy stir around in the bed behind me. I silently counted down...

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><p>I woke up slowly, vision blurring so much that nothing was identifiable. I had blink around twenty times to clear it out. I slowly moved my arms and legs to check for injury, then slowly sat up using my elbow. There was a girl wearing odd reddish-brown armor that fit her form well, and exposed her naval. Tan hide covered her chest, which I was sure was almost stretched to its limit. Her skin was... kinda pale, but not too pale. Y'know... light tan, sort of. Her eyes kinda just trapped me for a moment; they were just this beautiful shade of blue. Like the oasis I loved to visit...<p>

Wait... what oasis?

Where was I?

Who is this girl?

Hell...

Who am I?


End file.
